Antenatal Hospitalization Among U.S. Women With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Mitra et al. (2018) looked at hospital charts for pregnant women with intellectual or developmental disabilities. They counted how many went to the ER or stayed in the hospital for reasons other than giving birth. The study used U.S. insurance records and compared women with IDD to women without IDD.

Women with IDD had more than double the ER visits and extra hospital stays during pregnancy. They were admitted earlier and more often than other pregnant women. The extra care was not for labor—it was for other health problems that came up while they were pregnant.

Yamaki et al. (2019) found that when adults with IDD switched to Medicaid managed care their ER trips and hospital stays dropped sharply. That seems opposite to Monika’s finding of high use, but Kiyoshi looked at all adults and counted visits after a system change. Monika only looked at pregnant women and counted visits before any policy shift.

Koegel et al. (2014) saw that adults with IDD actually had lower odds of going to the ER for dental pain. Again, the group looked different: L studied dental complaints in all adults, while Monika studied any medical problem in pregnant women. The two studies together show that high use is tied to specific life events, not every health issue.

MacRae et al. (2015) reviewed diabetes care and found that people with IDD often lack proper health checks. Monika’s numbers support this gap: when pregnant, the same group ends up needing crisis care because routine monitoring may be missed.

If you serve women with IDD, expect them to need closer medical watch during pregnancy. Build early check-ups into care plans and teach families warning signs that need fast action. Share the Monika numbers with OB teams so they reserve extra appointment slots and use plain-language prenatal education.